The present invention relates generally to cell incubators, and more specifically to a novel flow-through chamber for exposing cells immobilized on microcarrier beads to precisely controlled temperatures and to radiation.
In vitro (outside a living organism) culturing of cells in cell incubators provides material needed for research in pharmocology, physiology, toxicology and radiation effects. Cell incubators also provide an environment for testing the response of living cells to exposure of drugs, especially new anti-cancer drugs, to exposure of toxicological materials and to exposure of radiation, without requiring experiments on more sentient living things. Cell incubators may also be used to produce valuable cellular products such as monoclonal antibodies and recombinant DNA products.
Cell incubators must have precise and rapid response temperature control. Current cell incubators using water jackets for temperature control can respond only sluggishly to temperature changes and are generally unsuitable for careful control of cell culture temperature.
Cell incubators must also provide a suitable carrier for supporting living cells. Present cell incubators using fibers as cell carriers do not have sufficient surface area to culture large amounts of cells. Further, they are restricted by the limited commercial availability of different fibers and fiber coatings suitable for culturing a large variety of different cell types.
The usefulness of cell incubators is greatly enhanced if they can be adapted to expose cells to various gas mixtures. Cell incubators have this feature require precise control of gas mixtures at the liquid/gas interface between the gas and a nutrient medium.
It is seen, therefore, that there is a need for an improved cell cultivation system for in vitro culturing of cells without the limitations of prior art cell incubators.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a flow-through cell cultivation system that provides precise and rapid-response temperature control and that is suitable for a wide variety of cell incubator uses.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cell cultivation system particularly applicable to nonionizing and ionizing radiation studies.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a cell cultivation system adaptable to a variety of other uses, including gas exposure and production of cellular products.
A feature of the present invention is that it uses micro-carrier beads available in a large variety of commercially available sizes and types, thereby increasing the number of cell strains and lines available for potential applications.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a low-pressure fluidized bed which prevents plugging and backflow of the beads.
A further advantage of the present invention is that it treats cells very delicately thereby preventing cell damage and promoting cell growth.